


Set Me Free

by emeraldrain55



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Angst, Multi, angsty angst, like dear god theres a shit ton of angst, nick danforth-evans supremacy, no nickinald jsyk, only rayla here
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-31
Updated: 2021-02-10
Packaged: 2021-03-17 11:40:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29099685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emeraldrain55/pseuds/emeraldrain55
Summary: 10 teenagers are recruited to live out a fairytale, whether they like it or not.
Relationships: Alex Mercer/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Flynn/Carrie Wilson, Julie Molina/Luke Patterson, Reggie Peters/Kayla
Comments: 15
Kudos: 51





	1. Once Upon a Time

**Author's Note:**

> I really did say: MOVE THIS TO AO3 tho

Three boys and a girl teleported into a broom closet. All of them were wearing fancy clothing, and they all had exasperated facial expressions that did not match their regal personas. The girl spoke up first.

"What the fuck did you do?"

All three of the boys rush to explain that they had no clue what they did, and the princess just looks at them with tired eyes.

"Calm down, guys. We're obviously in a fairytale of some sort. There's nothing we can do to change that. And besides, what's so bad about being royalty."

As if on cue, a voice echoes throw the surprisingly large closet.

"Will all royals please come to the main hall, your assignments are ready."

A rumble comes from outside the door, and one of the boys goes to open it.

"Well, I mean, how hard can getting through a stampeding crowd of teenage royals who are about to be assigned to god knows what be?"

"Reggie, why'd you have to say that?" The boy in the pink suit asks wearily. Reggie shrugs his shoulders and opens the door to what I can only describe as the apocalypse.

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ♫ ⋅.} ───── ⊰

Reggie is engulfed in the crowd of royals, as if it were a whirlpool of tulle skirts. 

"TELL MY STORYYYYYYYYY-" He yelled, helplessly, as he was dragged into the crowd. 

"I'M COMING, BUD-" The boy in the blue suit yells. His name is Luke. He dives into the crowd, screaming his friends name dramatically. The last two teenagers sigh. 

"C'mon Alex." The girl exclaims as she grabs the last boy's hand. "Into the abyss."

"WAIT FLYNN NO-"

But it was too late. Flynn has already dragged Alex into the crowd. Alex laughs as he passes Luke and Reggie, who are fighting against the stream of people. A few moments later, the two boys catch up with Alex and Flynn. They both look a mess.

"What happened back there?" Alex laughs.

"Well, like, these two girls dragged me out of the closet, right, and then I couldn't get out, and-"

"Okay bud." The blonde boy pats Reggie's back. 

"Guys, shush, I'm trying to navigate." Flynn scolds as she pushes past an overdressed princess. The boys fall into silence, not willing to annoy the scary girl that was their best friend's best friend. None of them have said it aloud, but they were worried about Julie. Where is she? Why didn't she end up with them in the palace? Is she ok?

Some of them hide their concern better than others.

"Do you guys know what happened to Julie? Me and Reg didn't see her earlier, and I'm worried because like we have no clue where that teleporter thing took her and-"

"SHHHHHHHHHH!" A menacing looking woman in a puke green dress scolds Luke. "It's starting!!"

The blue-suited boy seems to shrink down with embarrassment as the puke woman walks onto the stage.

"Hello royals alike." Mic feedback. A few coughs from the crowd.

The woman clears her throat. "Today is the day that leads to the rest of your lives. When I call your name, please step up to the stage."

She calls a few names.

"Princess Flynn of the Wooded Kingdom, please come on stage." Flynn half walks half runs on to the stage in a dress Alex had only just noticed. It was a beautiful shade of pine green, with vine decals going around the skirt. "You are being assigned to the story of Sleeping Beauty." Flynn rolls her eyes. "You will be saving-" "WAIT!" Flynn interrupts. "I'm the one saving people?!"

The puke lady gives her a confused look. "Um, yes? Look, I don't know what your parents have told you about fairy tales but we usually have girls save the boys. Or girls save the girls, in your case." Flynn nods her head. "Lesbian pride. I feel you." Puke Lady sighs and continues. "You will be saving your fairytale soulmate, Princess Carrie of the Flower Kingdom."

Flynn's eyes widen. "No. Nuh uh. There must be something wrong. See, me and Carrie are enemies, read the fine print-"

"It's a classic story trope. Enemies to lovers. Get used to it kid, I have more people to assign stories too." Flynn stomps off the stage, still clearly talking about how there was something wrong with her assignment. 

"Called it." Reggie says.

"Shut up." Alex kicks Reggie's shin.

"oW-"

"Pardon me, am I interrupting something?" Puke Lady sneers at the boys.

"No ma'am, sorry ma'am." They respond in unison.

"Good. And it just so happens that you, Prince Alexander of the Animal Kingdom, are next!"

Alex looks around to see the prince go onstage. Luke shoves him.

"THAT'S YOU, DUMBASS-"

"OH-"

Alex runs onstage and apologizes. "Uh, sorry, I'm still not used-" Puke Lady cuts him off. "You are being assigned to the story Robin Hood. Your fairytale soulmate is to be determined. Please exit stage right and wait for your carriage." He freezes for a moment, but then runs off stage. He swears he can hear the puke lady say "Kids these days" as he leaves, but decides not to push it because that girl scares him. 

"Prince Lucas of the Storm Kingdom."

Luke stumbles onstage, and bows to the puke lady.

"Don't do that."

"Uh, sorry-"

"Prince Lucas, you are being assigned to the story of the Mariposa. Please do the same as your little friend over there." Puke Lady gestures to a nervous Alex, who gives Luke a forced smile. Luke walks offstage and high fives Alex.

"Lastly, Prince Reginald of the Christmas Kingdom."

Reggie's eyes shine at the mention of his name in the same sentence as the word Christmas. Surprisingly, he's the most graceful of the group as he walks on stage. He looks really regal, which is something Alex never thought he would think as long as he was alive- well, dead, but you get the point. 

"You are being assigned to the story of the Nutcracker. Your fairytale soulmate is to be determined."

Reggie thanks the woman, and walks off stage.

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ♫ ⋅.} ───── ⊰

"Ah, the royal life."

"Shut up!"

Luke and Reggie start fighting each other as the group waits for their designated carriages.

"Are they always like this?" Flynn asks Alex.

"Unfortunately yes. Some days they can't get off each other. Those are the good ones."

"Ah."

The four of them are the last ones there. 

Soon enough, a dark blue carriage pulls up to the castle. 

"Luke, get in!" An old man's voice yells from inside.

The boys' eyes widen.

"D-dad?" Luke asks, shocked.

"Well who else would it be?" The man laughs as he opens up the carriage door. "Now come on, your mother's waiting for you! We wanna hear all about your story." 

Flynn can see the tears in Luke's eyes as he gets in the carriage. Happy tears, hopefully. 

Unfortunately, the other boys' family reunions were not as happy. 

Flynn watched the two boys get into their designated carriages. Flynn could hear yelling from Reggie's, and an utter silence Alex's. She's hoping that they will end up being happy with their soulmates when her thoughts get interrupted by the sound of a final carriage pulling up to the castle.

"Well you're late." She laughs.

"Nah, you're just early." A woman's voice teasingly responds through the door. When the door opens, Flynn can see a beautiful woman with hazel skin sitting on a green cushion. She's wearing the same colored dress as Flynn is, with a beautiful emerald drooping crown on her head. 

"Mom, you're the last one here!"

"Well that's a form of respect in The Water Kingdom."

"Really?"

"No."

Flynn laughs and jumps in to the carriage.

But she didn't see the blonde boy watching her from across the street.

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ♫ ⋅.} ───── ⊰

Reggie hated sitting through his parents arguments. Especially if they're over the phone. 

You see, you can't hear both sides of an argument if it's on the phone. You can only hear one side. So you have no clue who to support, or even what's going on. But at least his parents were alive, right? And normal by the looks of it.

As the carriage pulls up to the huge green and red castle, Reggie is admiring his surroundings in awe. Back in the real world, his beach house was the only thing his family had. But this? This was fricking amazing. Reggie bounces out of the carriage to the driver's dismay, and runs inside.

It's official. He's in heaven. 

The castle is beautiful. There are chefs far as the eye could see scrambling to get what looks like Christmas Dinner ready. Snowflakes are falling from clouds floating above him, and a beautiful tree stands in the middle of it all. Silver tinsel and ornaments are everywhere, and wherever he looks there's something he hasn't discovered yet. 

He runs up the stairs and explores all the rooms, each with its own holiday theme. To his surprise, there's a room that's just called "Snowball Room." He opens the door to see a whole assembly line of elves rolling snowballs and putting them in stacks. They stop abruptly when they see the prince, but he urges them to go on. They obey his orders, and he stares at them in awe.

"THIS IS AWESOME!!" He yells in the middle of it all, and the elves look up at him happily.

"Keep going! You guys are doing great!" And they do. Soon enough Reggie has started and won a snowball fight with the elves, made 3 snowmen, and discovered the recipe for the perfect snowball. Just goes to show what hyper-fixation can do.

"Reggie, it's time for dinner!" His mother yells sweetly.

"Coming!!" He yells back. "Bye guys! I had fun!" 

The elves nod in agreement, and get back to work.

Queen Heather, King James, and Prince Reginald all sit at a huge table. There's food that could last for days, with only three people to eat it. The king is already digging in, and Reggie soon follows in his lead. Heather is the only one who doesn't eat.

As they finish their dinner, Heather pulls aside James "for a word."

Reggie knows full well what she meant by that. "A word" actually means many words. Many loud words. Many loud, hurtful words. But he's used to it. So he goes to his room and thinks about the day.

How did we get here? Was there like, some sort of paradise waiting for us? Did me and the boys finally cross over?

Wait, that's not possible. If we crossed over then Flynn and Carrie wouldn't be here. And where is Julie? Luke seemed really worried about her earlier, and we all know he's head over heels for her. Maybe she's his fairytale soulmate. That'd be cool. Wait, who's my fairytale soulmate? Hm...

There's a knock on the door.

"Come in!"

His mother walks in. "Hey! I didn't get to ask you what your assignment is!"

"I got the Nutcracker."

"Oooooh...your soulmate must be a dancer!"

"Probably."

There's a pause.

"I should get going, you have a big day tomorrow."

"Yeah. Uh...bye, mom. I love you."

His mother pauses before answering.

"I love you too, Reggie. Sleep well."

And he did.

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ♫ ⋅.} ───── ⊰

The castles were beautiful. Each one themed to the kingdom. A beautiful mansion draped in leaves and waterfalls, a skyscraper with water dripping down each side, and a castle that was home to both humans and animals. When the group revealed their stories to their parents, each one was happy more or less. Except for Alex's.

They aren't happy at all.

You see, the story of Robin Hood is about a young archer who wants to win over the princess' heart.

But there is no princess. 

There's a prince.

King and Queen Mercer stare at him in utter disbelief. Something is wrong. Their son has gone mad. His soulmate cannot be a man! He was disgracing the kingdom itself! They would not have this.

And so they didn't.

They locked their son in a tower. Refusing to let him our until he changed.

And that's when our stories begin.


	2. Let Me Tell You What It's Like To Be a Zero

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some Willex for the soul  
> (this took me so long to write lmfao)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning! Depictions of violence!

Willie awoke in his father, the blacksmith's, house. He knew he wasn't meant to be there, but whatever this trick of Caleb's was, he had to go along with it. So he did. He wasn't surprised when he saw the floating hammer and nails sprawled around his kitchen. Caleb loved a show. So he grabbed a blueberry muffin from the table, grabbed his skateboard, and skated out of his lonely house, living his destiny as a side character.

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ♫ ⋅.} ───── ⊰

The town square was full of people he recognized from his other world. Marilyn was there, even Sal the hotdog guy. Willie never really liked him. He skated through town, stopping occasionally for small talk or boba. He took in the sights of the beautiful kingdom. Animals and humans lived in harmony. Never was someone startled by the fact that a tiger wearing a fedora was walking through town, or that the pools they were swimming in were inhabited by fish and sharks. As he rounded the corner to the edge of the kingdom, a blonde boy around the age of 15 appeared in front of him.

"Woah, dude, how'd you-" Willie asked, startled.

"You shouldn't be here." The boy snapped back, causing Willie to shut his mouth and stare at him. "This isn't your home."

"What do you mean by 'this isn't my home'?"

"You know exactly what I mean."

Silence.

"..Ok..?"

The boy smirked slyly. "I know how to get you out of this. Save Prince Alexander. Overthrow the monarchy. Live out your destiny."

Willie shook his head in confusion, wondering what exactly this boy was talking about. "So you're telling me I have to overthrow an entire monarchy? Wait, Alex is in trouble?!" But when he finally collected his thoughts, the boy was gone. All that was left in his place was a polaroid of the royal family throwing what seemed to be a 17 year old boy in a tower.

"H-how..?" The young blacksmith's apprentice looked around, hoping to see any sign of the boy who had made him question reality himself, but to no avail. Willie stuffed the polaroid into his coat pocket and skated off in the direction of the castle.

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ♫ ⋅.} ───── ⊰

Getting there was harder than expected. It's as if the universe didn't want for him to save Alex, but he kept pushing anyway. He refused to let Alex stay in that damned tower any longer. Who knows what the king and queen were doing to him behind closed doors. The thought made him even more determined to push on. He went way over the speed limit, jumping over everything that stood in his way. Yes, it did cost him a few parking tickets and a good rep, but that's ok, because Alex was the only one on his mind. As he neared the castle, guards started to chase him. Now these guards were tigers, but unlike the tigers that normally roamed the streets, these looked angry. Willie started skating faster, trying to out-run the tigers, but knowing that he wouldn’t be able too. With a final burst of hope, he set his foot down on the cobblestone road, and pushed. 

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ♫ ⋅.} ───── ⊰

At least he survived. 

It may have been one of the less graceful ways to escape a giant running horde of angry tigers, but hey, he didn’t have much practice before. Of course, that wasn’t an excuse for falling into a ditch, but ‘eh, what could he do. 

As he heard familiar voices grow nearer, he got up and dusted himself off.

“Dante, I told you it wasn’t smart to light a fire where the castle can see it! The guards found us!”

“Shut up Fuego, ten bucks that was Willie.”

“9.”

“9.25?”

Willie chuckled at the guys. They always made bets like this. When the two men finally caught up to the boy, Willie could see the look of pride on Dante’s face as Fuego reluctantly handed him a ten dollar bill.

“Where’ve you  _ been _ ? It’s been ages! Fuego finished your bow an hour ago!”

“Calm down, boys!” Willie said in a triumphant voice. “It’s still morning! We have plenty of time.”

“You do realize how important this mission is, right? Like, this is life or death.”

The words hit Willie hard. He forgot he wasn’t dead in this world. He was a lifer, just like everyone else.

Fuego must’ve noticed the shift in Willie’s expression, because he put a hand on Willie’s shoulder. 

“We’ve got this, though. It’s nothing we haven’t done before.” The boy’s frown turned quickly into a smirk, and he picked up the freshly polished crossbow with glee. The other two men did the same with their own weapons, and smiled at Willie, determined to set the kingdom free of it’s cruel and unfair reign. Willie smiled and climbed back up the side of the trench, determined to set his people, and his crush, free.

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ♫ ⋅.} ───── ⊰

Alex could hear the chaos that was taking place underneath the tower. The yelling and screaming of guards was something he couldn’t necessarily mistake. Unfortunately, there wasn’t any way of seeing exactly what was happening, so he stuck his ear to the stone-cold floor and just listened. 

“WILLIE, GET TO THE TOWER!”

_ Wait, what? Willie?  _ My  _ Willie? _

“OK, KEEP PUTTING UP A FIGHT, FUEGO!”

_ Oh my god that’s my Willie- _

“YES SIR!”

He was coming to save him. Willie was coming to save Alex. Damn, when was the last time he had showered? Did he look ok? He’d been in the tower for so long he forgot what sunlight was like- it was blue, right? Oh my god he was going insane. As Alex delved further into his mind, he remembered what the story of Robin Hood was about. A thief who wanted to overthrow the monarchy, and stole the heart of the princess (in his case, prince) in the process. Well, William had already succeeded in the second part, so Alex was already half-way done with his story. As he heard the familiar voice grow closer, he started to pack his things. No way would he stay in this wretched old tower if Willie was gonna save him. Alex could already imagine their (distinctly platonic) life together. It would be beautiful..a small cottage in the middle of the woods, just them two, no one else. It would be the perfect equivalent to a happily ever after. But then again, what happens when they got back to the real world? Would Willie still be under the control of Covington? Would life be the same? Was this all a dream?

The prince pinched himself.

Nope, not a dream. 

Alex decided it wasn’t worth it to worry. Willie would show up at his door any minute, and they’d ride off into the sunset (platonically) like a (platonic) fairytale.

Unfortunately, this was not how it played out. And it strictly  _ was  _ platonic.

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ♫ ⋅.} ───── ⊰

How Alex ended up riding on a horse in Willie’s arms, he didn’t know. But it happened.

The last 15 minutes was a blur. He could remember the surge of happiness he felt when Willie busted down the tower door. He could remember running past tigers and guards alike, but not fearing for his safety, because he knew Willie was there to protect him. What he  _ didn’t  _ remember was being shot in the leg by his own father. And what he  _ didn’t  _ remember was Willie picking him up in a bridal hold, and running even faster than he was before.

When the prince came-to, he could see Willie’s face looking down on him worriedly.

“Alex, are you ok? You lost a  _ lot  _ of blood and I am  _ so sorry _ -” 

“I’m fine, Willie. It’s ok. Don’t feel a thing.” Which was followed by a groan of pain. “See? Don’t feel a thing.”

Willie laughed a nervous, adorable laugh and bit his lip. “We’re almost at base, do you think you can hang on a bit longer?”

“I don’t see why not.”

And that was the last thing he said before he passed out. 

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ♫ ⋅.} ───── ⊰

Base was in the middle of the forest. It was very discreet, but had many people living in it. Why Willie didn’t live there was for safety reasons, which annoyed him to say the least, but he  _ did  _ spend every last waking minute there. The energy was just so reassuring, like nothing could go wrong. And nothing did. And nothing would. So that’s why it was his first thought to bring Alex there.

“Great zeus, Willie, what happened to him?!”

“Well I rescued him from the royal tower and we were running right and then-”

“Know what? Nevermind.” 

The camp doctor was used to injuries like this, but normally on peasants, definitely not the prince himself, so Willie couldn’t blame his surprise. The young boy let the doctor work, but paced impatiently just outside the door. He thought about how someone's own father could shoot them with a bow and arrow. That was just cruel. More than cruel, horrible. Just the memory of Alex screaming in pain haunted him, let alone having his father be the source. 

Willie refused to let anyone else go through that if he had the power to stop it.

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ♫ ⋅.} ───── ⊰

Later that night, Alex was sitting in his hospital bed. He couldn’t sleep. He had gotten so used to the silence of the abandoned watch tower that all the noises which came from the woods startled him. Any time a mouse or a squirrel scampered past his tent, he’d shriek and then immediately cover his mouth with his hand. So you can expect what his reaction was when he saw a full grown man walking towards the medical tent.

“Hey, Alex, I heard scream-”

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-oh wait it’s just you- uh, hi Willie.”

Willie shot him a sympathetic glance and sat next to him on the bed.

“How does it feel?”

“You mean the bed? Oh, it’s fine-”

“No, dummy, your leg.”

Alex looked at him for a minute, forgetting that he’d been shot earlier.

“What do you- oh...Yeah, it’s fine, I guess.”

“Look man, I’m really sorry, I shouldn’t have-”

“Willie. I’m ok. Everything’s ok, ok?”

Willie unsurely nodded and a comfortable silence fell between the two, and Willie drew his gaze away from the prince.

“Beautiful night, isn’t it?” Alex remarked.

“Yeah.” Willie replied, examining the medical equipment.

“...couldn’t sleep?”

“..Nope.”

“Me neither.”

The silence settled between them again, and Willie placed his hand on Alex’s.

“I can stay here, if you’d like.”

“Are you sure? It’s really late..”

“Yeah. Definitely.”

With that conformation, the prince nodded.

Willie got up and proceeded to lay down on the couch that was across from the hospital bed, and yawned.

“Night, hot dog.”

“Night, Willie.”

And they both fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAa  
> ok i'm done  
> y a y


End file.
